"It was a mix … our personal income was up, so that’s good, but we were not up as much as at the national level," says Dr. Walden, a North Carolina Cooperative Extension specialist.

"In fact, the income that we gained in North Carolina put us ranking of 34th among all the states. So we didn’t do quite as well as perhaps many would have liked.

"I think two factors really hurt us: One, we had a big decline –- in fact twice as much as at the national level –- in farm income. So we had some issues there with farm income. Also we saw a decline in income from what’s called nondurable manufacturing –- translated in North Carolina, that primarily means textiles and apparel.

"So recently those two sectors and those two factors have been hurting us. But, again, the good news is that we did see personal income go up."